UNICEF

Definition of key terms

 

Child vaccination is a form of treatment, and is widely considered by modern society to be an effective way to protect children from contracting viral  diseases. According to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC), children are persons under 18. As such, most children do not have full control over their own medical treatment, as it is mainly decided or controlled by their parents or legal guardians. Thus, it is also essential for children to receive vaccination by law or subsidised vaccinations, in the event that their parents or legal guardian refuses to send their child to receive vaccination. Moreover, given their tender age, children’s immune systems are often more vulnerable to viral diseases that in worst situations can lead to death. While costly, vaccines are scientifically proven to provide immunity to viral diseases as seen through the 1900s polio disease, of which most people were vaccinated in August 2020, certifying the African continent wild poliovirus free. . Despite the medically-proven effectiveness, child vaccination is not as widely practiced. In these instances, the long run repercussions from the lack of child vaccination would then be borne by the children. 

 

Origin of issue

 

1. Willingness of families for children to receive vaccines

Access to vaccines is a problem for many people in all parts of the world. Only 5% of children all over the world are fully vaccinated with the routine immunizations recommended by the World Health Organisation (WHO). These children are primarily from developing countries and among poorer populations in developed countries, as said in a research by Emory University, School of Medicine, Department of Infectious Diseases. Child vaccination is not fully available in less developed countries due to the availability of medical facilities, high cost of medical care, and lack of knowledge of medical personnels or adults at large. In developed countries, child vaccination may not be as widespread as there is an overdose of information and options, resulting in some adults choosing to scrutinise the effectiveness and need for child vaccination. 

 

According to a review published from 1999 to 2009 by authors from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Global Immunization Division, USA, some families whose children were not vaccinated at all often lived in remote areas, and had to travel long distances to the nearest clinic with available vaccines, whereas others lived in places with armed conflict or civil unrest, making travel unsafe or vaccines unavailable. 

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 2. Availability of medical resources

Moreover, there are many challenges to transporting vaccines to remote locations, such as keeping the vaccines at suitable temperatures to retain their effectiveness, the cost of transportation, acquiring a needle and syringe along with the vaccine dose for every person getting vaccinated, delivery services for vaccines, as well as medical professionals who know how to vaccinate children. 

 

Significance and impacts of issue

 

According to WHO, in the African region, around 3 million children below the age of 5 years old die every year as 1 in 5 children do not receive vaccinations. The WHO article also stated that a significant number of these premature deaths could have been prevented through vaccination, such causes of death include measles, polio, whooping cough and other vaccine-preventable diseases. In 2013, it is estimated that there were 38 000 measles deaths in the African region despite the availability of a safe and effective measles vaccine.

 

The inadequate vaccination in the African region could be due to many factors, one being the lack of education regarding the effectiveness of vaccines among the people living in poorer areas of the region. Dr Matshidiso Moeti, WHO Regional Director in Africa, mentioned that “countries and stakeholders must raise the visibility of vaccine-preventable diseases, address barriers to vaccination, and make substantial and sustained additional investments to strengthen health systems and achieve equitable access to immunization services.” Such vaccine-preventable diseases include measles, polio, whooping cough, tetanus, and diphtheria.

 

In 2019, millions of newborns lacked the complete dosage of the Diphtheria, Tetanus and Pertussis (DTP) vaccine due to the limited access to health services, including immunisation, in numerous areas all over the world. Most of these children resided in countries such as Angola, Brazil, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, India and developing countries. Though the vaccination coverage of children has improved over the years, millions of children have not yet been vaccinated as of 2018. A 2017 report from WHO stated that 116.5 million infants worldwide were given 3 doses of DTP vaccine, and in 2016, 130 countries had at least 90% coverage with the DTP vaccine. Countries must continue to keep up the effort to ensure that children all over the world are vaccinated.

 

How global efforts can resolve the issue

 

In addition to vaccinating children, unborn children should also be vaccinated through their mothers during pregnancy, if the mother is fit to receive the vaccination. Vaccines for pregnant women include the Tetanus toxoid, reduced diphtheria toxoid and acellular pertussis (Tdap) vaccine. The Tdap vaccine is a single dose vaccine which provides passive protection to infants as infants cannot be given the Tdap vaccination below 2 months of age. Infants less than 12 months of age who have not been vaccinated are at high risk of contracting illnesses such as influenza, a highly infectious respiratory viral illness, that could have been prevented through vaccinations. In 2017, a six year-old boy from the United Staes who did not receive the Tdap vaccine was diagnosed with tetanus. He experienced symptoms such as jaw clenching, muscle spasms, as well as neck and back aches. Hence, it is essential to vaccinate mothers with unborn children, with the Tdap vaccine. Ever since the 1940s, the vaccine has led to a 95% decline of tetanus cases and a 99% decrease in deaths related to tetanus.

 

The UNICEF Immunisation programme works in partnership with governments, NGOs, other UN agencies and private sectors to immunise children, regardless of family background. The programme includes vaccinating children in every community, as children could transmit diseases to others around them if they are infected with a viral disease. This being said, every person infected with the viral disease can infect others but children should be vaccinated, while young, so as to not have such a high chance of being infected in the rest of their life, since children would have a longer life to live as compared to older people. The cold chain was introduced to make sure vaccines reach all children without losing their effectiveness from exposure to extreme heat or cold weather conditions. Prices of vaccines have been lowered to cater to children living in poorer countries, and disease eradication and other elimination programmes have been introduced as world immunisation leads to a higher potential of eradicating diseases.

 

Priority for vaccination must be given to children and women, especially pregnant women, in order to ensure the safety of children from numerous illnesses and viruses. By vaccinating children now, future generations will be less at risk of contracting vaccine-preventable diseases, potentially eradicating such diseases altogether.